Page 85 of Beat around the Bush
“That wasn’t the whole date?” I questioned. What else did he have planned besides riding?
He shook his head, unlatching Winston and Butterscotch from the cross ties. “Just getting started. I’ll be right back.”
Lennon headed down the walkway with both horses following behind him, their hooves clomping on the ground echoing throughout the barn. I walked over to the tack room, taking in the wall of saddles and various other pieces of tack hanging from hooks. To the left was rows of extra saddle pads, and directly next to the door was a bulletin board with random notes and a few photos of the Bronson family.
Bailey was in every photo, right in between Reed and Lettie in each one. In the ones of them posing, everyone had a giantsmile on their faces, but in the few that were taken off guard without everyone in them, you could tell the dynamic between each person.
There was a photo of Bailey smiling down at Lettie as she scowled at Reed, one of Callan grinning next to a student perched on a pony, another with Lennon on his horse beside his father, and one of their mother standing beside the banner for Bottom of the Buckle Horse Rescue.
Strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind as Lennon nuzzled his nose into the side of my neck. “Whatcha looking at?”
My head tilted, giving him more access to my neck. His breath caused goosebumps to travel up my spine as his lips lightly brushed my skin. “I want to help with the rescue.”
I spun around in his arms, angling my head up at him.
“You do, huh?” he asked.
I nodded. “I think I like horses.”
He smiled. “I hope you do. There’s no getting away from them in my world.”
“I might just like them a little more when you’re riding them,” I confessed. He did look downright drool-worthy in the saddle. Not that he didn’t on the ground, or in bed. There was just something about a cowboy on his horse that did it for the female population, and I was quickly becoming a part of the majority in this.
Cowboys were fucking sexy.
He tucked my hair behind my ear, then cupped my cheek, stroking his thumb along my skin. “We can come out to the rescue any day you want.”
Perching up on my tip toes, I pressed my lips to his, getting lost in him. His hand slid through my hair, cupping the back of my head to pull me closer to him.
A throat cleared to the left of us, interrupting our kiss. “I’ve got a student coming in ten, so no sex in the barn.”
Lennon pulled back, keeping his eyes on me as he said, “Don’t worry about it, Cal. We were just about to take it somewhere else.”
“Did not need to know that,” Cal muttered under his breath as he disappeared into one of the horse’s stalls.
“You ready to continue our date?” Lennon asked.
I nodded, and he grabbed my hand, leading me out to his truck.
***
There was a big basket sitting on the middle seat of Lennon’s truck as he drove up a muddy road. It looked freshly plowed, the snow piling up on the sides of the trail.
“Where are we going?” I asked for the third time.
“Just because it’s been five minutes doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you,” Lennon pointed out.
I pouted in my seat, watching the hilly terrain pass by out my window. There were mountains in the distance right on thehorizon, towering over the hills before them. Bottom of the Buckle Ranch was nestled in the foothills. The house, barns, and arenas were built on the flat piece of the property, but the rest was smooth hills that led into the mountains.
Idaho was beautiful. This part of the country was like no other. It could go from miles and miles of flat land, then all of a sudden, a mountain would sprout up thirteen thousand feet in elevation.
The truck jostled with each bump we ran over in the mud. “Did you talk with Leo yesterday?” I asked Lennon.
He hesitated, adjusting his grip on the wheel. “Yeah, I did.”
“Did he apologize?”
Lennon’s tongue pressed into the side of his cheek. “He did.”
